Musical instrument



No. 609,706. Patented Aug. 23, I898. E; A. SCHUBERT.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

lApplication filed Jan. 27. 1898.

"N0 Model.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

EDIVARD A. SOIIUBERT, OF ST. CHARLES, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE IIALF TO ERNEST A. ZIMMERMANN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 609,706, dated August 28, 1898.

Application filed January 27, 1898. Serial No. 668,191. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. SCHUBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Charles, in the county of St. Charles and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Instruments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in musical instruments, and more particularly to that class generally known as harps.

The object of my invention is to compactly assemble the parts, which construction will enable the player to rest in a reclining or easy position when playing upon the harp. In the ordinary construction the player is required to sit upright when playing upon an instrument resting on the floor or on a table.

My harp, being small and of a light material, can be easily and conveniently held by the person while playing upon the same without undue stretching or straining of the arms, and the body is at all times in an ordinary or natural sitting posture. Therefore one does not tire playing it.

Another object I have in view is to secure a better and richer quality of tone. The harp is held in an upright position, and having strings on both sides produces a quality of tone which is mellow, round, and powerful.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is view of one side of my harp, showing the melody-strings. Fig. 2 is a view of the other side, showing the chord-strings. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View. Fig. & is a vertical transverse sectional View showing the different positions of the sound-egress holes. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing a protector-plate applied.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The harp consists of a head-piece A, preferably of the form shown, the end wall B, and the vertically-inclined end wall C, said end walls B O rigidly secured in their upright positions by the foot or base D and head-piece A.

On one side of the instrument I provide a soundingboard E for a set of melody-strings e, in which sounding-board is provided soundegress openings E. The strings are fastened to suitable pins 0 at the foot or base D of the instrument, thence stretched longitudinally across the sounding-board E, over the bridges h h, and fastened to the tuning pins or keys 6. The melody-strings are arranged so that they will gradually decrease in length from the vertical wall B to the vertically-inclined wall O, the longest string for the lowest note and the shortest string for the highest note. On the sounding-board E, I provide a string guide G, having the letter of the scale designating each string, or, if preferred, I may use numerals to aid the musician in playing from notes. On the other side of the instrument I provide another sounding-board F for the set of chord-strings f, each chord consisting of four strings of different tones. The chord-strings are attached in the same manner as the melody-strings e. I also provide a chord-guide H, located on the sounding-board F, to enable the performer to locate the different chords. This guide preferably consists of a flat piece of metal bent at its ends to form feet h to rest and be fastened upon the sounding-board F. This chord-guide is adapted to span all the chord-strings and is provided with prongs 11 along its upper edge, which permit the location of the chords by the sense of feeling. In this sounding-board F is also provided a sound-egress opening F, which is on a different horizontal plane than the opening E.

In the horizontal plane between the soundegress openings E F, I provide a transverse partition M, situated between the soundingboards E F and the end walls B 0, through which partition is provided the sound-egress openings at. This partition divides the in strument so that a sound-egress opening is placed for each side, which feature serves to improve the tone of the instrument.

To protect the pins (2 and to prevent them from catching into and tearing the clothes of the performer, I provide the protector-plate N, which preferably consists of a broad thin piece of metal, adapted to be suitably fastened to the instrument on the vertically-inclined end wall 0. If desired, this plate N can be provided with suitable arms adapted to lap over and protect the pins on the side of the instrument near the foot or base thereof.

The base or foot D is preferably made hollow to permit of the egress of sound.

It is thought that the operation of the instrument can be readily understood by those skilled in the art from the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and in the details of construction can be made by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A musical instrument consisting of parallel sounding-boards separated by a horizontal, transverse partition having perforations for the purpose described, a series of melodystrings arranged on one side of the instrument across one side thereof, a string-guide across the sounding-board devoted to the series of melody-strings,a series of chord-strings situated on the opposite side of the instrument across the other so u nding-board thereof,

and secured on opposite sides of the frame,

two independent series of strings stretched across bridges at the top and bottom of the frame and arranged adjacent to the respective sound-boards, and a horizontal, transverse, perforated partition secured within the frame and between the sound-boards thereof, sub.- stantially as described.

3. A chord-guide for a musical instrument, consisting of a flat strip of metal having a foot at each end and adapted to span all the chord-strings of said instrument, and prongs upon one edge of said guide to assist in locatin g the chords by the sense of feeling, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

, EDWARD A. SOHUBERT.

Witnesses:

FRED HUBER, R. H. DUNLAP. 

